Help to Make the Season Bright
by DoctorDeadWizard
Summary: It's Christmas. After finding a strange blue Police box, a woman finds herself stranded in it for months. Then one day, a stranger enters just as easily as she had. Will this be the end of her time in the box or just the beginning?


It was tradition. Tradition that took me downtown to see all the decorations the city put up for the Christmas season. No, I'm not going to say holiday season. It's freaking Christmas. I hate Christmas.

Here I was though, trying to make the best of it. I walked around the plazas. Some of the same shops were still there from when I was a child, but most of them were new. The flower shop where my dad bought me one red carnation every year was gone. The toy shop was gone. The hat shop was still there. The newsstand was still there. Right next to it was the shop that sold all the Maryland souvenirs.

Outside, the new mayor of Baltimore was trying to bring back tourism to the city. Along the pathway around the harbor between the science center and the plazas, there were roped off sections. Each square of space depicted a city around the world. I slowly walked down the walkway observing each one. There was one of Paris with a sculpture of the Eiffel Tower that had to be about eight feet high. At the base of it, a cafe table was set up with a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a plate of fake cheese. There was Vienna with a gondola and miniaturized version of the Rialto Bridge. Then there was London, it was the last one. There was a red phone box and a smaller version of Big Ben, but what was odd was the blue police box outside the roped off area. It looked like there wasn't any more room inside the small square of space reserved for each cityscape and the creator just put it off to the side. It was actual size where everything else that pertained to the representation of London was smaller. I walked around the box, knocked on the door, and pulled at the handle. It was locked, but the structure was solid. Someone had painted graffiti on it already though. It wasn't awful graffiti. There were beautiful flowers all around it and a portrait of a young lady. It was quite lovely. For some reason, I knew it to be a memorial. But why on this blue box?

I looked around. There weren't many people walking the walkway. There was a threat of rain in the evening news weather forecast keeping most people at home which was fine by me. I didn't like crowds. It would be a cold rain. The temperature wasn't cold enough for snow, but it was cold enough to bundle up as if it would.

There was a vendor nearby selling those candied pecans. I bought some. They were still warm. I went down and sat by the water on a bench enjoying my treat. Yes, I was alone. Having no significant other to speak of, though I'd had my share of them. I never married. It wasn't for me. I liked my freedom too much. My parents never understood it, eventually they just got used to it. Now, Mom was gone and Dad was in a nursing home. I wasn't young anymore, in my forties, slowly nearing fifty. I was most likely to be alone for the rest of my life, and that was okay. Although, I wouldn't mind having a good friend to travel around with, but there was no one. Everyone was too busy with their families, especially around this time of year. So, there I sat with my candied pecans enjoying the crisp night air in the city.

That's when my night began to change. It started to rain, no, ice. It wasn't a cold rain falling from the sky, it small shards of ice. One even nailed my hand.

"Ouch," I voiced and rubbed the back of my hand. "Ugh, there goes my night."

I stood up ready to head back to my car in the parking garage. I didn't get far. The ice shards starting pelting me. I had no umbrella to hide under, not that it would have made a difference. The ice probably would have torn right through an umbrella. It was pummeling so hard, I sought out shelter right away. The closest building was the science center but it was closed for the night. I frantically looked around for anything else to duck under.

The blue box.

I went over to it hoping that if I jiggled the handle enough it would pop open. It didn't budge.

"Come on," I pleaded with it like it could actually hear me, "I just need to get out of this rain. If you can call it that. OUCH!" Another shard hit my cheek. I touched it. There was blood on my fingers. I leaned my back against the door of the box, my hands were flat against it, my blood smeared on it. That's when I heard the click and I fell backwards in to it. I landed with an oomph. I quickly stood up. The ice was falling at an angle into the box. I quickly shut the door.

It was quiet, oddly quiet. There was no sound of the ice hammering the outside of the box. I backed up perplexed that there was no sound. The box must be constructed to be sound proof. I kept backing up, away from the door. I was nearly ten feet from it. Impossible. The box was only four feet deep. How? I turned around and put my hand out. There was only air in the pitch black.

I began to freak out and ran back to the door, but it was locked again. I leaned on it, pushed on it, smeared more of my blood on it, but it didn't budge. Then the lights flickered to life.

"What is this place?" I asked out loud to no one.

Blue and orange circles glowed on the walls. A tube in the center of the room with smaller tubes inside glowed bright orange as well. There were a few seats, so there must be someone in here. But where?

"Hello?" I shouted. There was no response. I immediately felt like an idiot for saying it out loud. Wasn't that what most people said in horror movies after entering a strange establishment just before getting their neck slashed open?

This place was peculiar. How did all of this fit into a tiny four by four blue box? I turned back to the door. I didn't go down any steps to some underground lair. It was all level. Well, there were steps going up to a catwalk where there were bookshelves and a leather chair that I observed as I walked further into the room. I walked around the center which was some sort of console with buttons, gauges, levers, dials, and switches. I looked at one of the monitors. There was a clock on it ticking forward. One minute, fifty seven seconds, fifty eight seconds, fifty nine seconds, two minutes had elapsed. I had entered the box approximately two minutes ago although it felt like a half hour. I continued around the console and saw on the second monitor an image of Earth. A red dot showed the current location, Baltimore, Maryland.

The image of the Earth rotated and the red dot moved to Oahu, Hawaii. A whining groan sounded all around me. The box shifted. I quickly made my way over to one of the seats. I looked for a seat belt as the box shook. Then as soon as it started it stopped. I went back to the monitor with the image of the Earth. The little red dot blinked on Oahu. I turned my head to stare at the door that I knew led to outside. I made my way over to it and tried to open it knowing it had been locked before. It opened. Warm air met me. The smell of salt water filled my nostrils.

"Seriously?" I asked seemingly to no one as I poked my head out the door. "I'm really in Hawaii?"

I'm not sure who was more perplexed me, or the people staring at me. The blue box had landed in a pineapple grove.

"Aloha," I managed to utter unconvincingly. "Can you tell me where I am?"

One man took a step closer. A woman tried to hold him back but he brushed her hand off his arm.

"You just appeared in Wahiawa, Hawaii. It's on the island of Oahu. On the planet Earth," he informed me and took another brave step forward. "Are you alien or angel?"

"Neither. I'm human," I replied.

"But that box. It's either alien or sent from heaven," he suggested.

It was true that I didn't know what this box was or how I even got to Oahu other than the speculation that the box brought me to the location.

"Look, I'm sorry to interrupt your harvest. I'll just be going," I said as I started backing up into the box again.

"Wait!" the man said. "Here. Take one of these. It's called a pineapple. Take it as a peace offering."

I stared at him and then to the people cowering behind him. I nodded and took the pineapple.

"Thank you," I said and he smiled. We both backed up. I closed the door.

The groaning began again. I rushed over, with pineapple in hand, to the console to see where I was going next. Paris, France.

The blue police box travelled in much the same way for months. Sometimes it stayed in a location for longer as it had in Baltimore, and sometimes the trip was short as it was in Oahu. Sometimes I stepped out of the box, making sure I left the door open so I wouldn't get stranded, and looked around. I never ventured far, not wanting to lose my ride or have some stranger steal it from me.

Since I was on this ship, for lack of a better term, for a long while, I found the kitchen, and it was always well stocked no matter how much I took out or prepared. There were bedrooms too. Most doors were locked. Occasionally, one that was locked, would become unlocked and I would look around.

One such room had all these pictures of men of various ages. Looked like to be some sort of organization full of men. Typical. There were thirteen in all. But on another wall there were pictures of women and men. It looked like some were grouped together while others stood alone. I couldn't tell the correlation between the two walls of pictures.

That's when I saw it. The picture of the woman painted on the outside of the box. Her photograph was hanging on the wall. It was the last picture, well, not quite last. There was another frame, but it had no picture in it. Who were these people? They must have something to do with the blue Police box. Were they like me, unexpected travelers?

I wouldn't have long to wait for my answer.

The box was just leaving Vancouver about a week after I found the picture room. The red blip moved to Nevada. There was no town there, just desert. When the groaning stopped, I opened to door and saw a diner. I looked left and right. A diner in the middle of nowhere. I stepped out of the box, again, leaving the door open. As I was walking towards it, the groaning noise sounded.

"Oh, no, you don't!" I yelled as I ran back into the blue box thinking it was disappearing again.

As I stood there after I slammed the door shut, I realized the blue box wasn't going anywhere. It was silent inside. I went to the console. I was still in Nevada. Then, the lights went out. The last time the lights were out was when I picked up my ride in Baltimore.

"Oh, great," I muttered.

Then I heard the door open. I ran for the corridor and hid myself there. Someone was entering my blue box! I couldn't see the person's face. It looked like an outline of a man, but I never made presumptions. Then, the lights started to come back on again, just as they had for me.

I saw him. He was an older man. Well, not that old. Maybe about eight or ten years older than myself. I had seen his face before. Yes! He was one of the portraits in the picture room. He moved around the place as if he knew it. He moved to a chalkboard that had that catchy saying on it. It had been there since I arrived. I didn't have the heart to erase it. I wanted to see who this 'clever boy' was, and now I think I know who it is. But who is he, really? He started taking off the wrinkled suit jacket he had on to don on a velvet maroon jacket that definitely fitted his style better. He turned around and looked in my direction. I ducked behind the corner. I hoped he hadn't seen me. Or maybe I did want him to see me. Maybe he could take me home.

Home. My car was probably towed by now or was racking up some dollars at the parking garage. I most likely didn't have a job, house, or credit, even. I missed Christmas with my dad. I groaned and immediately regretted it. I smacked my hand across my mouth. He had probably heard that. I chanced a look. He was at the console with his back facing my direction. Maybe he hadn't.

"I know you're there," a masculine Scottish voice said.

Was that him talking to me? Scottish, huh? I guess he had heard me. I didn't know whether to stay put or finally make myself known.

"If you don't come out, I will find you," he mentioned as if he could read my mind. Maybe he could. That was an eerie feeling. I tried to keep my mind empty, just in case.

He moved around the console. I could see more of his face now as he looked at the monitors. He definitely knew what he was doing. Buttons were pressed, dials were turned, levers pulled as he wore a expression of determination.

The blue box groaned. We were moving again. I had a feeling he was driving the direction we were going this time. It wasn't going to be somewhere random.

He must have observed something perplexing on the monitor because his expression changed and then changed again to something thoughtful.

"You must scared. Lonely. Confused," he said out loud to me, his invisible intruder. "I see you have been here two months, twelve days, nine hours, and thirteen minutes. You probably noticed the timer when you entered. It's a security measurement," he explained.

I had noticed it. First time I saw it, two minutes had elapsed. Everyday I watched it clock my time aboard the blue box. It always going. I dreaded the day it would stop. Especially if I wasn't back in Baltimore.

"You aren't in any danger here," he said.

I felt I already knew that. I could have starved to death if the ship hadn't replenished the food. I could have been easily left behind in Siberia and frozen to death. I felt this ship had a mind of its own. I had often talked out loud even though I knew no physical beings were on the ship, but I felt someone was listening. It gave me comfort.

"I know," I said coming out of the corridor.

He craned his neck around to see me. There was no look of surprise but a look of curiosity. He was taller than I realized with a slender build. He had artist's hands. Hands without calluses and scars.

I swallowed hard as I kept my distance.

"Nice outfit," he mentioned.

I wore whatever I could find in the wardrobe. It was huge and interesting. It had period clothing! I currently wore breeches, stockings, a long sleeved cotton shirt. It was very colonial. 

"Sorry, I had to raid your closet. I couldn't wear the same outfit for, what was it, two months, twelve days, and nine hours," I said shyly. He nodded with a small smile.

"American?" he questioned me.

"Yes," I answered but returned with, "Scottish?"

"No," he answered. My brow furrowed. "Gallifreyan."

"Where is that?"

"Klasterborous constellation," he told me.

"Outer space?" I questioned with wide eyes.

"Yes," he answered.

"Alien?"

"Yes."

My mind went wild with speculations of why the ship kept me on. I no longer thought of myself as a traveler but of a prisoner. A science experiment kept alive long enough to dissect.

He must have seen the fear rise in me.

"No, no, no, no, no. Not that kind of alien," he seemingly answered my worries as he came towards me. I backed up into the corridor.

"Then why do you look human?" I asked.

"Oh, no, not this again," he said putting a hand to his forehead. Then he looked at me. "Why do you look Gallifreyan?"

Then I started thinking way too hard on that thought. If he was alien but he looked human, maybe our planets were somehow related. Maybe there were only a few things that differed between us because of evolution or adaptations.

"You're actually thinking about that?" he questioned.

"I am," I answered.

"And?"

"What if the reason we look similar is because we are related somehow, our planets. One came about because of the other."

"Yes, well, one did. It's a really long story that I really don't want to get into right now," he said going back to the console and observing where they were going. I just stared at him. "I'm called the Doctor, by the way. What do people call you?"

"Oh, um, Mary," I answered.

He paused looking expectantly.

"Mary Bellamy," I added. Maybe he was looking for a last name. He still had the same look, like he was waiting for me to ask something. "Is there something wrong, Doctor?" I asked.

"You're the first that hasn't asked if I have another name to go with Doctor," he explained to me. I shrugged.

"You're an alien. Maybe from where you're from there are no last names, just special titles. Let me guess, there is someone there just called General and another called Teacher," I ventured to say.

The Doctor smiled, a big grin from ear to ear. It made me smile too.

"You are absolutely right," he said as he stared at me. "Remarkable."

"Thanks," I said a little apprehensively. I wasn't sure I should be saying 'thanks' or 'you're welcome'.

"So, tell me, where have you been in my ship?" he asked returning his attention to the console yet again.

"Ship? What sort of ship is this?" I asked before I told him all the places it took me.

"It's called the TARDIS. It stands for time and relative dimension in space," the Doctor informed me.

"It travels in time and space?" I surmised questionably.

"Yes. So, where did it take you?" he asked again.

"Not sure if it took me to another time, but it did take me to Oahu, Paris, Siberia, New Delhi, Yokohama, Frankfurt, Delphi, Sydney. Should I go on?" I told him.

"You've been all over the world in two months?" he questioned.

"Evidently," I answered as I walked up to the platform and sat down in the jump seat. "It was like it was waiting for something. I guess it was waiting you, now that I think about it. It just didn't know where you would be. Where have you been? Were you in the desert the whole time?"

The Doctor looked forlorn. Maybe I shouldn't have asked. I hoped I wasn't being too invasive.

"I was looking for someone," he said.

"Did you find them?" I asked quietly.

"Yes," he answered with a sad face.

"I take it wasn't a happy reunion," I surmised from his look. He looked heartbroken.

"It was and it wasn't. I had to lie to her," he replied.

"Why?" I asked curiosity getting the better of me.

"I had to pretend I didn't know her or she would have tried to travel with me again," he answered. "I couldn't let that happen. We would have been sought out. My kind, the Time Lords, are looking for her. She's a fugitive of time. I pulled her out of her time line because I couldn't stand to loose her. She is suppose to be dead."

"What happens if she's not returned to her time line?" I asked knowing it couldn't be anything good if he had changed her time line.

"It could cause of rift in time. A small rift is manageable. A large rift could collapse all of time itself," he told me.

"Are there any rifts?" I asked.

"I don't know. I've been without my ship. She can detect them," he said.

"She?" I said with a laugh. "Even male aliens have egos."

"Well, she is a she," he said with excitement. "She once appeared to me in human form as a woman."

"Sure, she did. What's her name then?"

"Sexy."

"Ego."

"Shut up."

I laughed harder. I hadn't laughed like that in a very long time. It felt good. And the Doctor finally managed a smirk. He looked handsome when smiled.

"I guess you are going to take me home now, so you can go look for rifts and do whatever Time Lords do?" I asked after my laughter settled and he went back to looking at the monitors.

"You've been stranded on a time and space ship for two months," he said as he came to stand in front of me but leaned on the console. Then he crossed his arms over his chest. "You most likely don't have much to return to unless you have family, but I don't think you do. I know you aren't married, no ring. You were by yourself when you entered the Tardis which means you were most likely alone to begin with. I can tell you don't have any children. Mother's have a weathered look about them. You still have youth about you despite your age."

I stared at him a moment without any expression. How right he was.

"Who are you? Sherlock Holmes?" I wondered.

"No, but just as observant," he answered. "So, what do you say? Travel with me?"

"There is my dad. He's probably worried sick. I missed Christmas with him," I told the Doctor as I looked down at my clasped hands.

"There is a rule I have about going back in your own time line. I can't do it," he said as he pushed himself off the console and moved closer to me. I could see his shoes and trousers, but the rest was hidden by my bangs.

"I'm not asking you to, but I probably should go home anyway. Start over," I said. I would have to start my life over again. New job, new place to live, maybe even a new town or state.

"Why start over when you've just begun?" he asked me. I was puzzled by that. I looked up at him. He was smiling. That handsome face. "What if I told you that I don't always follow my own rules?" he said.

"I'm not sure I follow," I said still perplexed by what he was trying to tell me.

"Let's go back and see your father on Christmas day," he suggested.

I jumped up and shouted, "Do you mean it?" I felt like a little girl getting the best Christmas present.

"Yes. Right now. Just tell me where he is and we're there," he said rushing back to the console and pulling one of the monitors around.

On the monitor was a map of the United States. I told him where my dad's nursing home was as he zoomed in on Maryland. The Doctor moved around me, fingers flying over buttons and dials, and then pulled down a lever. The familiar whooshing sound of the Tardis sounded around them.

My dad was elated to see us. At first, he thought the Doctor was a new boyfriend. I had to tell him he was just a friend. I don't think my dad believed that, but it was the truth. The Doctor managed to scrounge up a gift for my dad somewhere in the Tardis since we didn't have time to retrieve the gift I had for him from my apartment. I couldn't believe it when my dad opened the gift. It was the first issue of Superman, my dad's favorite superhero. He cried. I nearly did. I managed to laugh a little at the coincidence that Superman was an alien that rescued people, much like the Doctor was an alien and . . . well, he rescued me from a disappointed dad on Christmas Day. He really did make this season a little brighter.

After dinner with my dad, the Doctor and I went back to the Tardis. I stood staring at the buttons on the console with my palms pressed against the edge. The Doctor was busy with his buttons, dials, and glances at the monitors. I did feel his eyes on me though.

"So, have you decided?" he asked me.

"For how long?" I asked in return.

"How ever long you want," he replied.

"And if I said for the rest of my life?"

"What about your father?"

"We could visit on Christmas and as long as I can call from time to time. He's not going to live forever."

The Doctor went silent. I looked up to see why. I thought he might have left or found something interesting on the monitor. He was only staring down at the console as I had been.

"One trip," he said.

"What? Why?"

He gazed into my eyes from across the console. "One trip, every year, at Christmas. Just something to help make your holiday season just a little bit brighter."

My eyes glazed over with tears, but I smiled. I managed to say, "I'd like that."

He smiled too and then pressed down the lever to start our first adventure.


End file.
